Jindal: GOP must stop being 'stupid party'

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called on the Republican Party to "stop being the stupid party" on Thursday as GOP leaders promised fundamental changes to help stave off future losses.

In the keynote address at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting, Jindal said the GOP doesn't need to change its values but "might need to change just about everything else we are doing."

"We've got to stop being the stupid party. It's time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults," he said. "We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. I'm here to say we've had enough of that."

Jindal, thought to be a potential 2016 presidential contender, offered little detail in the 25-minute address. He called on conservatives to shift their focus from Capitol Hill number crunching to "the place where conservatism thrives — in the real world beyond the Washington Beltway."

Hours before the speech, Republican leaders promised to release in March a report, dubbed the "Growth and Opportunity Project," outlining recommendations on party rules and messaging designed to appeal to a rapidly changing American electorate. President Barack Obama's November victory was fueled, in part, by overwhelming support from the nation's Hispanic, Asian and African-American communities.

"Losing is not fun. We want to win," said GOP strategist Sally Bradshaw, who is among five people appointed by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to craft the report.

"I think you're going to see a very renewed, aggressive effort by this party to put on a different face," Bradshaw said. "We are going to go into areas that we do not go into and see folks that we do not see."

Republicans presidential nominee Mitt Romney struggled last fall to win over women and minorities, who overwhelmingly favored President Barack Obama's re-election bid. GOP officials conceded this week that they must change their tone and message, if not their policies, if they hope to expand their appeal in the coming years.

Romney alienated many Hispanic voters by highlighting his support for a fence along the Mexican border and "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants. Down-ticket Republican candidates alienated female voters by backing new abortion laws in a handful of swing states like Virginia and New Hampshire, while Senate candidate Todd Akin of Missouri hurt himself and his party by declaring that women's bodies could prevent pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape."

GOP strategist Ari Fleischer suggested that his party could learn an important lesson from Democrats on messaging: "Republicans talk policy and Democrats talk people. Republicans can learn a little bit from Democrats on how to make those people connections with our policies."

Asked whether he was considering a presidential bid in 2016, Jindal brushed aside the question. "Any Republican that's thinking about talking about running for president in 2016 needs to get his head examined," he said. "We've got a lot of work to do."

He called on conservatives to stop fighting with Democrats on their terms about the size of government in Washington and focus instead on connecting with voters across the nation.

"Today's conservatism is completely wrapped up in solving the hideous mess that is the federal budget, the burgeoning deficits, the mammoth federal debt, the shortfall in our entitlement programs," he said. "We seem to have an obsession with government bookkeeping. This is a rigged game, and it is the wrong game for us to play."

________

 

Is it time for the GOP to start changing its ways?

[Valin]

Yahoo News:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called on the Republican Party to "stop being the stupid party" on Thursday as GOP leaders promised fundamental changes to help stave off future losses.

In the keynote address at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting, Jindal said the GOP doesn't need to change its values but "might need to change just about everything else we are doing."

 

Is it time for the GOP to start changing its ways?

 

The question is not is it time for a change, but Can the party change....with the same old faces in charge?

[Valin]

National Journal: One Tough-Talking Nerd: Bobby Jindal Brands Himself as Republican Reformer

Louisiana governor calls on GOP to "stop being the stupid party."

Beth Reinhard

January 25, 2013

 

CHARLOTTE – The speech Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gave Thursday to a gathering of Republican party leaders, released in advance by his office, was organized by Roman numerals. I. America is not Washington. II. How we win the argument. III. How we win the election. IV. Conclusion. Jindal's delivery resembled that of a nervous student rushing through an oral recitation of a term paper. The audience was as distracted as a room of high school classmates.

 

Which raises the question: Can a fast-talking, brainy policy wonk be elected president? Because even though Jindal told reporters after the speech that “any Republican who’s thinking of running for president needs to get his head examined,” it’s clear the governor has 2016 in his sights. He’s currently serving as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, a frequent launching pad to a national campaign, and on Thursday, Jindal pitched himself as the guy who can lead the GOP out of political exile.

 

“If this election taught us anything, it is that we will not win elections by simply pointing out the failures of the other side,” he said. “We have to recalibrate the compass of conservatism.” In a pointed jab at his party’s Congressional wing, he scoffed at their focus on decimal points and deficit spending in Washington, though didn’t propose an alternative for how to balance the budget.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

C-Span: Gov. Jindal (R-LA) Speaks at RNC Winter Meeting

 

Transcript

[Valin]

The Three Martini Lunch

Jim Geraghty and Greg Corombos like Bobby Jindal’s speech to shake up the GOP

[Valin]

Bobby Jindal Takes a Stand

Pejman Yousefzadeh

1/25/13

 

*My response to the 2012 election may not be as populist as Bobby Jindal’s, but his speech to the Republican National Committee is no less worthy of praise in my eyes simply because of that difference. As is his custom, Jindal proves that he is a politician blessed with both intelligence and inspiration; a combination as laudable as it is rare—especially in a political figure. The following excerpt from his speech is a long one, but it is worth highlighting:

 

If it’s worth doing, block grant it to the states.

 

If it’s something you don’t trust the states to do, then maybe Washington shouldn’t do it at all.

 

(Snip)

 

Here are seven things that I believe we must change if we are to amass a following worthy of our principles, and if we are to be in position to win elections and lead America:

 

**1. We must stop looking backward. We have to boldly show what the future can look like with the free market policies that we believe in. Many of our Governors are doing just that. Conservative ideals are aspirational, and our country is aspirational. Nostalgia about the good old days is heart-warming, but the battle of ideas must be waged in the future.

 

(Snip)

* Against Stupidity, Some Conservatives Contend–Hopefully Not in Vain

Pejman Yousefzadeh

November 14, 2012

I believe this is what he is talking about

 

** Ronald Reagan is dead, quit pining for the "Good Old Days"!

Grant shortly after he took over command of Army of the Potomac, many of his officers spent all their time worrying about Lee and what he was going to do next, Grant snapped " Stop worrying what Bobby Lee is going to do to you and start making him worry what you are going to do to him!"

Here's a radical idea....What are we going to do to Obama and the Democrats to make their political lives a living hell, and drive them to Petersburg?

[nickydog]

National Journal: One Tough-Talking Nerd: Bobby Jindal Brands Himself as Republican Reformer

Louisiana governor calls on GOP to "stop being the stupid party."

Beth Reinhard

January 25, 2013

 

CHARLOTTE The speech Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gave Thursday to a gathering of Republican party leaders, released in advance by his office, was organized by Roman numerals. I. America is not Washington. II. How we win the argument. III. How we win the election. IV. Conclusion. Jindal's delivery resembled that of a nervous student rushing through an oral recitation of a term paper. The audience was as distracted as a room of high school classmates.

 

Which raises the question: Can a fast-talking, brainy policy wonk be elected president? Because even though Jindal told reporters after the speech that "any Republican who's thinking of running for president needs to get his head examined," it's clear the governor has 2016 in his sights. He's currently serving as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, a frequent launching pad to a national campaign, and on Thursday, Jindal pitched himself as the guy who can lead the GOP out of political exile.

 

"If this election taught us anything, it is that we will not win elections by simply pointing out the failures of the other side," he said. "We have to recalibrate the compass of conservatism." In a pointed jab at his party's Congressional wing, he scoffed at their focus on decimal points and deficit spending in Washington, though didn't propose an alternative for how to balance the budget.

 

(Snip)

 

If Bobby Jindal really has 2016 in his sights then he needs to hire a speech advisor. It's not hard to learn good phrasing and how to slow down when you talk. After all, look who has mastered it to perfection?!

[Valin]

National Journal: One Tough-Talking Nerd: Bobby Jindal Brands Himself as Republican Reformer

Louisiana governor calls on GOP to "stop being the stupid party."

Beth Reinhard

January 25, 2013

 

 

(Snip)

 

If Bobby Jindal really has 2016 in his sights then he needs to hire a speech advisor. It's not hard to learn good phrasing and how to slow down when you talk. After all, look who has mastered it to perfection?!

 

 

Nothing wrong with good packaging.

[Valin]

[Valin]

Thoughts On Jindal’s Speech

Pete Spiliakos

Friday, January 25, 2013

 

 

(Snip)

 

Jindal also says:

 

If you take nothing else away from what I say today, please understand this – We must not become the party of austerity. We must become the party of growth.

 

There is something to that, but we are going to get to the point where the party or parties in power are going to have to be for some kind of austerity. Our spending obligations are just too big to be sustained at our current level of taxation. That will mean a combination of spending cuts and tax increases (though we have just had a set of tax increases over the last several years.) The proportion of spending cuts to tax increases will matter as will the structure of the spending and taxation. Spending cut-focused fiscal consolidations seem to hurt the economy a lot less. Jindal is right of course. Getting to a sustainable budget is a means to an end not an end unto itself. But call it whatever you want, the spending cuts required for spending cut-focused reform will sure look like austerity. The trick is making it a better deal than whatever version of austerity the Democrats produce.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Quibbling with Jindal’s Roadmap

Dan Holler

1/28/13

 

“I plan to say some things that may challenge your assumptions,” warned Louisiana Governor and rumored 2016 contender Bobby Jindal. “You may not agree with all of it, but that’s ok, ours is a party that can handle real discussions.”

 

Challenge accepted, governor.

 

(Snip)

 

“[O]bsessing with zeroes on the budget spreadsheet,” as Jindal characterizes it, is not some misguided quest for austerity; rather, it is a fiscal reality – a fiscal reality that he readily acknowledges is “the bankrupting of our federal government.”

 

But downplaying the desire to balance our nation’s budget as merely “an obsession with government bookkeeping” misses the point. Balancing the budget is not only a moral imperative (the children!), but doing so will also require the very reforms that Jindal touted.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Bobby Jindal

 

Gov. Bobby Jindal was on Fox and Friends this morning discussing what the Republican Party needs to do to win in 2016. Among the things he said about better articulating our principles with more sensitivity to the voter, he added that any Republican already thinking about running for president in 2016 needs to get their head examined. The reason, he notes, is that “we’ve lost two presidential elections in a row, we need to be winning the debate of ideas, then we’ll win elections.”

 

Watch:

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